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Totodile Line/HGSS
Totodile is obtained from Prof. Elm in New Bark Town at level 5 at the beginning of your journey. Totodile is among the best starters in existence. Good as a tank, but not without enough offensive power to dominate most of the region. It was excellent in Generation II, so what to say now, when it received a power increase in the form of having STAB moves coming off of its stronger Attack? Its movepool has many great physical moves - everything Feraligatr needs to prove the first sentence in this introduction. Very few enemies have stats and typing good enough to stand against the blue reptile and its jaws of pain. Just don't choose this one when you want to make things harder for yourself. Important Matchups Johto * Rival (Cherrygrove City): Not much to say about this fight, it's always just using your token starting Normal move. * Gym #1 - Falkner (Violet City, Flying-type): Winning the damage race with the Pidgeotto might be a bit difficult thanks to Roost. For that reason Falkner's ace is better left for something that can deal more damage, Mareep, Geodude, or the trade Onix come to mind. * Proton (Slowpoke Well): He is really weak. His biggest threat to you is Supersonic and Smokescreen for annoyance. * Gym #2 - Bugsy (Azalea Town, Bug-type): U-turn is no pushover. However, if you grinded your Totodile to 20 before the evolution or Croconaw to 21, you now have Ice Fang which will 2HKO the biggest threat. Cocoons? What cocoons? * Rival (Azalea Town): Ice Fang on the Zubat, Bite on the Gastly, just watch out for their annoying gimmicks (Zubat's Supersonic, Gastly's Mean Look+Curse combo). Don't risk with the Bayleef, it's pretty much designed to best Croconaw in a damage race with Razor Leaf (higher crit rate), Synthesis (free healing), Reflect (to weaken your attacks), and Poison Powder (for even more annoyance). * Gym #3 - Whitney (Goldenrod City, Normal-type): Oh, Whitney. Miltank is, as always, extremely dangerous with its moves and stats, and Clefairy has Metronome. If the Random Number Gods decided to smile at you and give you a female starter, you'll negate Whitney's worst gimmick - Cute Charm and Attract. The best move you can unleash at the moment is Silk Scarf-boosted Headbutt (Silk Scarf is available in the Game Corner). You want both of them gone fast, but don't expect to deal massive damage until you score a critical hit or set up. The Game Corner has one more thing that can help you - TM for Swords Dance, which Croconaw can learn. You may think that setting up on Clefairy is the way to go, but don't forget Metronome - it can easily roll a Zap Cannon and hit. Fighting Whitney is risky. Better to have at least two possible plans plus a female Pokémon ready in case both fail. * Rival (Burned Tower): Just like in the last battle, you can Bite the Gastly and Ice Fang the Zubat. Just note that the Gastly now has Confuse Ray. Your rival got a Magnemite in the meantime. Stay away both from it and from the Bayleef. * Gym #4 - Morty (Ecruteak City, Ghost-type): In theory, you can sweep Morty by spamming Bite, and equipping your Croconaw with a Metronome (the item, not the move, from the Game Corner, it powers up your move spamming) for increasing the damage. However, your sweep can easily be interrupted by Curse, only Gengar does not have it. Gastly and the lvl 23 Haunter also have Mean Look, which might add to the annoyance. The lvl 21 Haunter has the nasty combo of Hypnosis+Dream Eater+Nightmare, adding the possibility of forcing you to heal and/or switch out. Gengar probably will outspeed you, its high Special Attack will make it easy for it to get a clear 2HKO on you with Shadow Ball. If you have no problem with risking the 1/16 chance of falling to a crit, you can set up a Swords Dance on the Gastly, as long as it doesn't Curse on the first turn. If you feel like being a complete jerk, just send a Normal-type to fight the Gengar instead. After tanking five Sucker Punches any Normal-type is invincible against that ghost. * Eusine (Cianwood City): Drowzee and Haunter won't enjoy the feeling of your crocodile's teeth. Watch out for their gimmicks though, Haunter has the standard Mean Look+Curse combo, as well as Hypnosis, Drowzee has the Hypnosis+Dream Eater combo, as well as Disable, a source of great annoyance. Electrode has STAB Thunder. I do not need to tell you that Johto alligators do not like being hit with that. * Gym #5 - Chuck (Cianwood City, Fighting-type): Feraligatr will probably only serve as an emergency tank for when you need to heal your main attackers. The problem here is that you Feraligatr doesn't have an easy way to OHKO any of Chuck's Pokémon, and both of them have ways of making sure their Focus Punch connects - Primeape has Double Team, the bane of the existence of all of us, while Poliwrath has Hypnosis. You need to have ways of countering that or dealing lots of damage quickly, something Feraligatr sadly can't do in this particular fight. * Gym #6 - Jasmine (Olivine City, Steel-type): Avoid the Magnemites, destroy the Steelix. It'll fall to one or two Surfs. * Petrel (Team Rocket HQ): Not even his Koffing's Selfdestruct can stop the mighty gator. You might not have their weaknesses (except for Zubat, who should be a Golbat by that point, but well, Team Rocket), but the worst case scenario is a 2HKO on Koffing and Raticate. * Ariana (Team Rocket HQ, tag battle with Lance): If you're already at the level to fight Jasmine, Ariana and her grunt won't cause you problems, especially with Lance helping you. * Gym #7 - Pryce (Mahogany Town, Ice-type): You basically wall Pryce. The fight won't be fast, but you won't have to worry too much. * Petrel (Goldenrod Radio Tower): This guy got a few points in being a complete jackass. However, Surf boosted by Mystic Water should OHKO all the Koffings who would be lucky if they had half of your Speed. Weezing is a tougher customer. Unless you crit, it'll survive one Surf and its Explosion can instantly deprive you of your starter. Switch to someone with more defense. * Rival (Goldenrod Underground): Golbat and Haunter, the same deal, only now both of them have Confuse Ray. Meganium and Magnemite are the same deal too, especially that Meganium upgraded both to the third form and its STAB is now Petal Dance. Your rival got a Sneasel in the interim, it won't be able to deal too much damage to your starter. * Proton (Goldenrod Radio Tower): Do not worry, his Weezing does not have any kamikaze move. It's really all you need to know here. * Ariana (Goldenrod Radio Tower): Arbok, Vileplume, Murkrow, weaker in levels than Jasmine and Pryce. Her Vileplume's STAB move? Mega Drain. Just put her out of her misery. * Archer (Goldenrod Radio Tower): He has two Fire-types and a Koffing without Selfdestruct or Explosion. Just do your thing. * Gym #8 - Clair (Blackthorn City, Dragon-type): Kingdra is not easy. It has moves to ruin your day, Hyper Beam and Dragon Pulse. It could be tempting to let your Electric-type handle the Gyarados, but you can very well use the fact that it can't really surprise you to set up. Your best bet in this fight is not Ice Fang, but Dragon Claw, which you can get from the Goldenrod Dept. Store's lottery on Sundays. Overpowering Clair is the safest way to go through that fight. Watch out for the Dragonairs using Thunder Wave, lowered Speed can give Kingdra a chance you don't want it to have. Well, unless you have confidence in your HP and Special Defense, but it doesn't make Dragon Claw any less useful here. * Kimono Girls (Ecruteak Dance Theater): Feraligatr is a good lead here, particularly with the Choice Scarf. It can hit Umbreon and Flareon with Waterfall, and potentially OHKO Espeon with Crunch, or if not that, it can take a hit and then hit back. Any neutral move does well against Vaporeon, which can't hurt it much. Obviously, you will need to switch against Jolteon. * Ho-Oh (Bell Tower, HeartGold only): This fight is a damage race, even more when you try to catch the legendary. Ho-Oh shouldn't be able to 2HKO you, but Feraligatr's better at tanking physical hits, not special. Of course, the moves lack enough PP to stall you out of your meds, but you might want to switch to someone with status moves and better Special Defense if you want to catch your mascot legendary. * Lugia (Whirl Islands, SoulSilver only): See Ho-Oh, though this fight is somewhat harder due to Lugia having better STAB to hit Feraligatr with. Still, its Special Attack is nothing majestic, luckily for the croc. * Rival (Victory Road): Rival battles are repetitive. Golbat, Haunter, Sneasel, to be destroyed. Magneton, Meganium, to be avoided. The newest addition to the team is Kadabra... and you should have Crunch. * Elite Four Will (Indigo Plateau, Psychic-type): Crunch. Exeggutor doesn't have a Grass move. It does, however, have Reflect and Hypnosis. Both Xatus have Confuse Ray, Jynx has Lovely Kiss. Slowbro is ready to tank with Amnesia and Curse, don't expect it to fall quickly. * Elite Four Koga (Indigo Plateau, Poison-type): Your best bet is leaving this fight for someone else, with the exception of Crobat. Especially with the exploding Forretress. * Elite Four Bruno (Indigo Plateau, Fighting-type): Onix is an obvious target. Keep away from Hitmontop, as it will Counter all the damage that doesn't defeat it. Hitmonlee's attacks can be tanked, but Feraligatr is not the best bet here. You can use it to let yourself be Swaggered and remove the confusion. Hitmonchan does have its godly coverage, but your defense should be enough to laugh even at Thunder Punch. Machamp is no joke with its base 100 Cross Chop and base 120 Revenge (unless you don't attack it), before counting STAB. That should be handled by someone else. * Elite Four Karen (Indigo Plateau, Dark-type): Murkrow and Houndoom are obvious. Vileplume is to be avoided with its Petal Dance and Moonlight. Umbreon is, well, Umbreon. Great bulk and annoyance tactics in the form of Double Team and Confuse Ray. Expect it to take a while. Then there's Gengar. Who carries Destiny Bond. Switch out, use status moves, stall out Destiny Bond, choose your thing to get that threat out of your sight. * Champion Lance (Indigo Plateau, Flying-type): Gyarados for the Electric-type, Charizard for your gator. Aerodactyl will land a Thunder Fang on you, but you should survive and counter with Waterfall. The biggest problems are the Dragonites. Or to be precise, the two lower level ones. Who are indistinguishable save for one detail - one of them has Thunder, while the other has Blizzard, and before one of those moves is used, you don't know what you're facing. Even at a high level it can win the damage race against your supplies. Yes, Lance's ace carries Outrage, but it's less of a threat than that Schrödinger's Boltbeam. Lance may actually be a Flying-type Champion, but don't put him in the same box as Falkner. Don't be afraid to set up an X Attack or two if necessary (and if you don't have Swords Dance anymore). Kanto From this point onwards, you can fight the gyms in any order, though you will need to retrieve the Machine Parts from the Cerulean City gym before you have access to the earlier portion of Kanto. Feel free to anticipate or postpone any battles as needed. * Gym #9 - Brock (Pewter City, Rock-type): I'll tell you something funny. Brock. Not even the high Defense of his Pokémon can save him from being destroyed by Waterfall. Of course, his two fossils, Omastar and Kabutops, are just neutral to Water, so you won't have OHKOs everywhere. Kabutops has Giga Drain, but... Kabutops' Special Attack. Pfft. * Rival (Mt. Moon, optional): Repetitive as usual. Alakazam and Gengar are evolved now, and maybe you want to avoid Alakazam out of precaution, as it does have massive Special Attack... but if you are holding the Choice Scarf and have Crunch, everything is fine. Of course, that limits your options for the other Pokémon. Magneton and Meganium are still a no, Brick Break is not enough for the former. * Gym #10 - Misty (Cerulean City, Water-type): What should your policy be here? I suggest an all-out offensive with Water-type Pokémon. You wall Water and Ice moves she might use, while the rest isn't really a problem. Quagsire has Water Absorb, so your STAB is not neutral, but ineffective. Starmie has Confuse Ray. That's all. * Gym #11 - Lt. Surge (Vermilion City, Electric-type): You really shouldn't be thinking about doing that. But if you have to, you need two things. One, Earthquake. Two, Choice Scarf or really good Speed. The only way for them to not be a risk of a 2HKO on you is if they faint before they can do anything. * Gym #12 - Erika (Celadon City, Grass-type): You can take out the Jumpluff and with high probability Tangela, but keep away from Bellossom and Victreebel. * Gym #13 - Janine (Fuchsia City, Poison-type): EXPLOSION WARNING, her Weezing has that accursed move. Everything else should fall to your mighty STAB, or in Crobat's case, Ice Fang. * Gym #14 - Sabrina (Saffron City, Psychic-type): If you want to use your reptile here and not be constantly worried about its fate, a Choice Scarf is your friend once again. Without it it's highly unlikely that you'd ever outspeed her Alakazam, who carries Energy Ball. * Gym #15 - Blaine (Seafoam Islands, Fire-type): Hopefully you have good Speed. If you do, you'll OHKO both Magcargo and Magmar, not letting them set up Sunny Day to weaken your moves and prolong the battle. Rapidash should be a clean 2HKO. Even Magmar's ThunderPunch is not any real danger. Blainee, you better have scuba. * Gym #16 - Blue (Viridian City): Exeggutor is a no, Leaf Storm may take Feraligatr down in a single blow. Arcanine, on the other hand, really needs a bath. It may Roar you out to annoy you and get some free damage on the switch. Rhydon pretends it can outspeed you and use Thunder Fang, poor thing. Nobody believes it though. Gyarados would take too long, let your Electric-type do the job. Machamp is tough, like Bruno's, especially with No Guard DynamicPunch, which can be followed by ThunderPunch while you hurt yourself in confusion. Pidgeot won't enjoy your Ice Fang. And that marks the end of Kanto. * Rival (Indigo Plateau, optional): Exact same team as before, except Golbat is a Crobat now. Apply the same reasoning: no to Magneton and Meganium, yes to Alakazam and Gengar if Choice Scarf and Crunch, and okay with the rest. * Red (Mt. Silver): Uber Pikachu, ladies and gentlemen. You have two options for that one. Lead with someone else or equip a Choice Scarf to make sure that you outspeed. Then, both Earthquake and Waterfall will get that threat out of the way, thanks to Pikachu's wet paper bag defenses. Now even wetter, if you used STAB. Superpower might not be enough to take Lapras down, and if you did equip a Choice Scarf, you can't use it anyway. The same is true for Snorlax, who might additionally scare you away with its STAB Giga Impact. Frenzy Plant can and will OHKO you, so Venusaur is out of your range. Charizard, on the other hand, will be aa victim to your elemental rock-paper-scissors. If you're well prepared with your levels, you'll have no problems outdamaging Blastoise with Earthquake or Superpower. Or other move that isn't resisted. And thus falls the previous champion. Moves Totodile, like every starter, starts with a Normal and a status move, in this case - Scratch and Leer. Get just one level to receive your first STAB, Water Gun, which is there only to be replaced later. Rage at level 8 is not worth getting (even though you still will due to not having a full moveset). Bite obtained at level 13 will be your most used move in the early game, due to utilizing the crocodile's best stat. Scary Face at level 15 is pretty much to be skipped, there are barely any scenarios where it'd be useful. If you postpone the evolution to level 20, you'll get Ice Fang one level sooner than Croconaw, and as the only physical Ice move in your arsenal, this is something you probably will carry to the endgame. At level 24 Croconaw gets Flail, too situational in a Nuzlocke. Level 30 brings you three things, two of them good - evolution and Crunch just before it. Needless to say, as a clear improvement over Bite, it's something you want. The third thing? Agility, obtained just after the evolution. Not necessary, you'll do better dealing damage. If you need a filler move for decent base power and a lot of PP, level 37 gives you Slash. Don't expect it to exceed that use though. Screech given to you at level 45 only makes sense if you would be forced to face an enemy with huge Defense, that would take more than one hit even after Screech. But why would you want to face an enemy like that with a Feraligatr? At level 58 you get Aqua Tail. Good in theory, but by the time you get it, you'll have Waterfall for a long time. Croconaw gets it at 48, but it's not worth delaying the evolution. Level 63 gives you Superpower, for things that just need to have their face made concave. 120 base power coming from a Feraligatr is nothing to sneeze at. Feraligatr has a good TM/HM arsenal available for it, starting with the most obvious of them - HM07 Waterfall. A physical STAB is exactly what Feraligatr needs, and let's be honest, Aqua Tail is not an option. Among good TMs to give to your starter we have Earthquake for coverage and just plain massive damage (or Dig if you want to save TM26 for someone else), Return until you switch to something with more coverage, or Dragon Claw obtainable from the Goldenrod Dept. Store lottery on Sundays, for when you need more super effective base power than Ice Fang can provide. That's all. Because you don't need much more. Shadow Claw is made obsolete by Crunch obtained by level-up, Rock Slide could be an option, but you get it from Brock (and that's far in the future), the same thing with Brick Break, which is Battle Frontier-only. If your play style includes setting up and sweeping, we have something for you - Swords Dance, a prize from the Goldenrod Game Corner. If you felt disappointed by Ice Fang's not perfect (95%) accuracy, you can always switch to Avalanche you can find in the Ice Path, trading 5 points in base power for the accuracy of 100% and the additional effect of doubling its power if you take damage. Of course, it has the priority of -4, so you will have to keep an eye on your HP. If you're very desperate, your loyal reptile of doom can also provide field support in the form of all HM moves except for Fly. Recommended moveset: ''Johto: Waterfall, Ice Fang/Avalanche, two out of Crunch/Swords Dance/Return/Earthquake'' ''Kanto: analogous, with the additional possibility of replacing one of the last two moves with Superpower, Brick Break, or Rock Slide, depending on the necessary niche'' Other Totodile's stats Croconaw's stats Feraligatr's stats * What Nature do I want? Adamant is obviously the best thing you can get from the D25 roll here. Of course, other abilities that sacrifice Special Attack will also benefit you (even though your STAB will remain weak for the majority of Johto), but Jolly is not as great here as you might hear in competitive. Of course, it gives you some benefit, but Feraligatr is not the fast glass cannon type - you're good to go even with something like Brave. Or Relaxed (for Defense) or Sassy (for Sp.Defense) for additional bulk. The croc is just great with anything that doesn't hinder its Attack. * At what point in the game should I be evolved? To Croconaw in Azalea, before Bugsy if you need Ice Fang for his Scyther. To Feraligatr for Chuck, even though your starter won't be the main attacker (in the best case scenario), having someone ready to tank hits with base 100 Defense and repay with base 105 Attack is always useful. * How good is the Totodile line in a Nuzlocke? Totodile is among the best starters in existence, especially after the phys/spec split. It has the bulk to tank hits and the offense to pay your enemies back, as well as a great level-up movepool complemented by the TMs, not many of them, but great in quality. Compared to Typhlosion's lack of versatility and Meganium's general defensive/support tendencies, Feraligatr might actually even appear to be Johto's easy mode. * Weaknesses: Electric, Grass * Resistances: Water, Fire, Steel, Ice * Immunities: None * Neutralities: Normal, Fighting, Flying, Poison, Ground, Rock, Bug, Ghost, Psychic, Dragon, Dark Category:HeartGold/SoulSilver Category:List of Evolutionary Lines with Completed Analyses